Breeding Barley to Make Budweiser
You might think of Anheuser Busch as a beverage company producing great American beers like Budweiser. However, as Todd Gleason reports from Idaho Falls, Idaho, it is a highly integrated agricultural company.
markets and weather for the farming world | Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster
The Trump Administration’s has a $12 billion dollar plan to compensate farmers for damages done so far by the trade dispute with China and other nations. Here’s what’s known, so far, about how the plan will work.
The largest part of that money will be paid out to soybean producers, though direct payments will also be made for other commodities including corn, wheat, sorghum, cotton, dairy, and pork. USDA Chief Economist Rob Johansson told reporters on the line the initial damage calculation has already been made, “We’ve calculated what the damage is to producers facing these illegal tariff actions. We are working out the specific details and will be working it out as a rule making action in a couple of weeks and that will have our estimated rates. As the Secretary mentioned, this will be playing out over time and we do look to allowing for the Administration to successfully negotiate a deal here with our trading partners. And so, the program will be flexible to allow that.”
Again, Johansson says the financial damage part has already been calculated, though he also says specific details have yet to be published and or worked out. Should the trade disputes be settled the program is meant to flexible.
This was not said, but it makes sense that a farmer who harvests and sells soybeans prior to the settlement would get a payment, one who sells after the settlement may not.
Assistant Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, Brad Karmen says FSA, the Farm Service Agency, will be responsible for the sign up, “So we are going to allow producers, we are talking about a September sign-up, and it will probably go for many months. So, producers will have time to visit there FSA count y office. And in order to run this program we need producers to harvest their crop. So, producers that harvest their crop, like wheat for example which in on the list and many of those producers have harvested already. They may be able to get their payment earlier than somebody like corn or soybeans that doesn’t harvest until October. But we need producers to harvest so that we know their production in order to calculate a payment.”
Recapping then… the the bulk of the $12 billion dollars is intended to compensate soybean farmers for damages to their market. The initial calculation has, it appears, already been made but may be tweaked. Sign-up will be done at local FSA offices. Payments will begin once producers provide actual production figures to the FSA. And, the program may change or end prior to payments being made should the Administration settle trade disputes.
As of July 12th, U.S. farmers were expected to produce 4.3 billion bushels of soybeans this season.
Around the nation, USDA reports 81% of the corn crop is silking. The rolling 5yr-avg is 62%. 18% of the crop has entered the dough stage, the 5yr-avg is 8%. The corn crop is in slightly better condition than last week as is the soybean crop. It now stands at 70% good or excellent with 44% of the crop setting pods. The 5yr-avg is about half that amount. Winter wheat harvest is 80% complete.
The commodity markets seemed to have found a bottom for the moment. Todd Gleason has more on what may be next with University of Illinois Agricultural Economist Todd Hubbs.
This Thursday’s USDA’s monthly supply and demand estimates will include the impact of the Trump Administration’s tariffs. Gary Crawford talks with the chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board Seth Meyer about the July WASDE. The report is scheduled for release at 11 a.m. central time Thursday, July 12, 2018.
Japanese beetles are showing up in corn and soybean fields. These can do enough damage to cause yield losses, but it is fairly unlikely. The University of Illinois has published thresholds for when farmers should spray crops to protect them from the Japanese beetle.
Nick Seiter says there needs to be a lot of beetles and a whole lot damage done before a producer should spend money on a rescue treatment, “Most of the reports that I am getting, as you would expect and as is typical, are below the treatment thresholds. These are 25 percent defoliation after bloom and 35 percent before bloom for soybean and the threshold for silk clipping in corn is consistent clipping to half-an-inch or less regularly throughout the field. I had a question yesterday about what to do when you have both Japanese beetles and corn rootworm clipping silks in the field. The answer is the same, the clipping has to be down to half-an-inch or less consistently through the field while pollination is still ongoing.”
ILLINOIS Extension Entomologist Nick Seiter says farmers have no need to apply a rescue treatment for Japanese beetles until defoliation reaches at least 25 percent after bloom for soybean and silk clipping during pollination is down to half-an-inch or less for corn.
Farmers gathered at the CUTC in St. Louis this week (June 4, 5, 6) to learn about future uses for the nation’s number one commodity crop.
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference is organized by NCGA or the National Corn Growers Association. It happens every two years and is dedicated to exploring future uses of corn. Vijay Singh is a regular. He works for the agricultural college at the University of Illinois and specializes in engineering ethanol processing plants. Singh sees them expanding to include biochemical production in the near future, “That’s the big thing right now and for that, we need large amounts of sugar. The U.S. is at a major advantage in terms of producing sugars from corn and that comes from the corn processing industry.”
The corn processing industry has long focused on creating food products, high fructose corn syrup, ethanol and some other co-products. However, now that sugar, rather than crude oil, has become the preferred feedstock for producing high-value biochemicals that are used to create consumer products, things like polymers, there is a place for corn in that pipeline.
The U of I engineer says because it is economically feasible dry-grind ethanol plants are starting to produce sugar along with producing ethanol. Those sugars can then be used to produce biochemicals. The biochemicals made from a renewable source, corn, are taking the place of petrochemicals.
by Aaron Hager, Extension Weed Scientist
University of Illinois
The labels of most post-emergence corn herbicides allow applications at various crop growth stages, but almost all product labels indicate a maximum growth stage beyond which broadcast applications should not be made, and a few even state a minimum growth stage before which applications should not be made.
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Herbicide application restrictions based on corn height and growth stage with University of Illinois Extension Weed Scientist Aaron Hager @UIWeedSci. pic.twitter.com/YnZkWpYLDM
— Todd E. Gleason (@commodityweek) May 31, 2018
These growth stages are usually indicated as a particular plant height or leaf stage; sometimes both of these are listed. For product labels that indicate a specific corn height and growth state, be sure to follow the more restrictive of the two. Application restrictions exist for several reasons, but of particular importance is the increased likelihood of crop injury if applications are made outside a specified growth stage or range. The following table lists the maximum corn growth stage for broadcast application of several post-emergence corn herbicides. Be sure to consult the respective product label for additional precautions or restrictions.
When farmers want to know how well an insecticide works they turn to their Land Grant University for unbiased information. Todd Gleason has more from the western corn rootworm trials on the Urbana-Champaign campus.
This little four-row planter is outfitted with some pretty high tech stuff. All of which must be calibrated before it goes to the field where it will be used to plant a western corn rootworm trial. A trial that will assess how well twelve different current in-furrow liquid and granular insecticides work. Well, at least some of them are current products, others are experimentals says University of Illinois Extension Entomologist Nick Seiter, “We like to evaluate all the different options that are out there. There is always potential that we could lose control tactics that we are using currently.”
So, researchers at Illinois want to make sure to evaluate everything available just in case something becomes ineffective. This we there are good answers on what to try next. It is important evaluate efficacy for today’s products and those in the pipeline. Illinois has long done research to test how well different control methods work on the western corn rootworm. Naturally, these include the Bt corn hybrids, too. As for the insect, it is really nimble and quite capable of adapting to all sorts of ways farmers use to control it, says Seiter, “It is an insect that is very good at developing resistance to multiple different control tactics. Out of all the insects we deal with it is the one growers are most interest in in terms of efficacy. In terms of what products, what hybrids, what control tactics are going to give them the best control.”
On that account, Nick Seiter from ILLINOIS, and his counterparts at Land Grants across the nation are working hard to stay up with the ever-changing western corn rootworm and the products used to control it.
The President has been tweeting about agriculture. He says the potential deal with China will result in “massive” export increases for farm commodities. Most have taken this to mean, at a minimum, that the flow of soybeans will be increased. University of Illinois agricultural economist Todd Hubbs has been pondering the implications and the deal.
Todd Hubbs specializes is row crop commodity marketing at the University of Illinois. You may read his thoughts on marketing soybeans in today’s (this week’s) post to the farmdocDaily website.
NEC Dir. Larry Kudlow tells @gstephanopoulos following trade talks with China: "There's no agreement for a deal, we never anticipated one, there's a communique between the two great countries. That's all." #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/oj6goENJFA— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 20, 2018
"Are we going to get everything? I don't know. But I will say this, we're making terrific progress."— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 20, 2018
➡️ @larry_kudlow discussed trade talks with #China https://t.co/nr8A5N9IWw pic.twitter.com/8LZCmQzGNj
Mnuchin on $200 billion China-deal figure: "Chris, we have specific targets. I am not going to publicly disclose what they are. They go industry by industry" pic.twitter.com/cO8Js0e31l— Trade News Analysis (@TradeNewsCentre) May 20, 2018
In an exclusive interview, @stevenmnuchin1 tells Chris: "We're putting the trade war on hold, so right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework." pic.twitter.com/fJXKozKxK5— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) May 20, 2018
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says efforts to renegotiate a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico could spill into next year: https://t.co/kM3JdClgGr— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) May 20, 2018
Friday, May 18, 2018, the United States House of Representatives voted on and failed to pass legislation to create the 2018 version of the Farm Bill. Fourteen members of the Republican Party’s Freedom Caucus, 16 moderate Republicans, and the Democrats cast no votes. It sets up a complex path forward for the bill.